Who are the highest-paid players of the 2002 NBA Draft class?
This draft class may not have been as notable as the 2003 one that followed it, but it’s darn sure memorable. The class featured six-time All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire, international legend Yao Ming and future NBA champions in Udonis Haslem and Tayshaun Prince. Furthermore, the draft also featured notable busts such as Nikoloz Tskitishvilli and Dajuan Wagner.
Heck, Stoudemire, who developed into one of the premier big men of his generation and ended up winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2002-03, received a less-than-ringing endorsement from Chad Ford of ESPN following the draft:
“It was a strange draft for the Suns. Stoudemire might be the Antonio McDyess replacement they’ve pined for the past few years, but he’s a long way away. Jacobsen may be the next Thunder Dan, but the Suns backcourt will be awfully crowded with Joe Johnson and Penny Hardaway also back there.”
Stoudemire not only led the Phoenix Suns to the playoffs in his first year, he ended up leading them to the Western Conference Finals within three years. Along with Steve Nash, Stoudemire led annual Suns playoff teams deep into the playoffs before doing the same for the New York Knicks just a few years later.
In the case of Yao, he became an eight-time All-Star while proving himself to be the best center in the league before injuries took its toll on him. He led the Houston Rockets to the playoffs in five of his seasons there and averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for his career.
But who is the highest-paid player of this particular draft class?
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